India-born Estonia batter Sahil Chauhan has called Rohit Sharma his inspiration after smacking the fastest ever T20 century, which came off a mere 27 balls, against Cyprus. (More Cricket News)
The 32-year-old Chauhan clattered 18 sixes and six fours to make a whirlwind 41-ball 144 not out on Monday.
He broke the record for the fastest century in all T20 cricket, held by Chris Gayle who had made a 30-ball ton in the Indian Premier League, as well as Namibia's Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton's record of fastest T20 International century (off 33 balls).
"I've been a big Rohit Sharma fan since I watched him play, he's a brilliant player who doesn't take any pressure," Chauhan was quoted as saying by FanCode.
"Regardless of the situation, he always plays his game. I have learned a lot from him. His hook shots are my favourite," said Chauhan, who hails from Manakpur Devilal village in Haryana.
Recalling his journey from a village in Haryana to Estonia and discovering cricket in the European country, Chauhan admitted he was pleasantly surprised to get an opportunity.
"My uncle was the reason I moved to Estonia. He has a small restaurant business and that is where I work," he said.
"I started playing here in 2019. I was really bored so I started searching on Google for cricket in Estonia (and) I found a team's contact information and called them. I asked, 'Are you playing cricket?' They replied, 'yes, we play cricket'."
"I said, 'Are you serious about this?' and they responded, 'yes'. That's how I started playing the game here," he added.
Chauhan said he has played cricket right from his childhood.
"I used to play a lot of cricket in my village back in India. I started right from the age of 6-7, playing gully cricket and never really stopped," he said.
Chasing 192, Estonia had slipped to 40 for three in the fifth over when Chauhan walked out to bat at No.5 and helped his side wrap up the win with six wickets and seven overs to spare.
"I was just thinking about the innings and the target we had to chase. I just played to the merit of the ball, and that's it. The ball was coming nicely to the bat, and I was just playing my shots," he recalled about his knock.
